The Ruby Throated Hummingbird
With ruby red on his throat the emerald hummingbird descended
In air before pure, sunny purple-kissed, blooms
Above their earthern bed.
Standing outside then in clear view I needed to suddenly decide
From a wide open closeby spot how to stay and secretively hide.
All of my quiet, majestic flowers are sweet, starry lullabies
Where this bright, jeweled bird visited under joyful heaven blue skies.
While hovering alone as the magnificent blossoms' tiny guest
Its colors like boughs of holly, were a citadel of happiness. ---Gayle Sweeney
In air before pure, sunny purple-kissed, blooms
Above their earthern bed.
Standing outside then in clear view I needed to suddenly decide
From a wide open closeby spot how to stay and secretively hide.
All of my quiet, majestic flowers are sweet, starry lullabies
Where this bright, jeweled bird visited under joyful heaven blue skies.
While hovering alone as the magnificent blossoms' tiny guest
Its colors like boughs of holly, were a citadel of happiness. ---Gayle Sweeney
Hi Everyone,
It has been a very long time since our last communication and we want to deeply apologize. My father died earlier this year after a difficult year before that in terms of his health and a complex move to Madison in 2017. Also, Michael currently has a back injury, so we were not certain if we could go ahead with our garden tour, thank goodness he is now feeling better and we are able to proceed.
Without further ado, the dates for the Garden Tour are WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 3-7 P.M. (door prize drawing at 5 p.m.) and SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1-5:30 P.M. (door prize drawing at 3 p.m.) at our home, 5118 Buffalo Trail, Madison, WI 53705. We are located on Madison’s west side, west of the Hilldale Mall and right down the street from Oscar Rennebohm Park (between Eau Claire Ave. and North Whitney Way.) If you need help with directions, please let us know.
It is NOT necessary to RSVP and this is a public event, so anyone is welcome---please tell all of your friends and family and invite them to come. If you have any questions at all, please e-mail me at kathijr@yahoo.com. The event will take place rain or shine (hopefully, the sun will be shining, and the temperatures will be pleasant!) Please note that only our front yard is wheel chair accessible. Additionally, if you have a bee allergy, be warned that many bees will be present in our garden (especially if the day is hot and sunny). We welcome and encourage children to attend, but they must always be closely supervised by an adult.
Special features of the event will include:
-Hummingbirds!! (we hope our timing is right and the weather cooperates!)
-A huge garden filled with hummingbird flowers, native and perennial and tropical and some other unusual plants of interest
-20+ Hummingbird Feeders
-Butterflies and interesting moths
-Hummingbird Banding---Mickey O’Connor and her “crewe”
-An informative and fun class about hummingbirds presented by Larry and Emily Scheunemann who have a fabulous rural hummingbird and butterfly garden near Whitewater. The class will be offered at 4 p.m. on both September 12 and 16.
-A door prize drawing and short program (door prizes courtesy of Wildbirds Unlimited of Madison, Michael and Kathi Rock, and John and Helena Nolan)---5 p.m. on September 12 and 3 p.m. on September 16---you must be present to win a door prize!
-Snacks and beverages (if you wish, please bring a small snack or beverage to share---no pork or shellfish please----or a small bag of potting soil---this is completely optional!) While we have so much appreciated that many people attending our gardening tours have brought bags of sugar in past years, we currently have a cabinet full of sugar and no room to store any more. PLEASE DO NOT BRING SUGAR!!
-Printed information about how to start attracting hummingbirds in your very own garden
-Meet others who are also interested in hummingbirds and gardening
We hope to see many of you again and look forward to a wonderful few days with you in our hummingbird and butterfly garden!!
We wish you enjoyment of your hummingbirds and garden at this exciting time of the year---we look forward to hearing all about it!
Best Wishes,
Michael and Kathi Rock
CHANGES ARE COMING
After our Garden Tours are complete, we plan to set up a Facebook page for “Hummingbird Gardening in the Upper Midwest”. This feature should hopefully make it easier, more fun, and faster for us to communicate with those of you who are on Facebook. It will also make it easier for us to reach out to others who live in the Upper Midwest who might be interested in our information and work. So, watch for it soon!! THIS FACEBOOK PAGE WILL NOT REPLACE OUR WEBSITE OR PERIODIC E-MAIL UPDATES, but will be an additional effort. You do not need to be on Facebook to receive or access our website or e-mail updates.
The following information bears repeating during this busy time of the year!!
HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS 101---ALL THE "INS AND OUTS" OF HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS
The diet of hummingbirds consists of small insects and nectar. You faithful readers of the Nectar
News are well aware of the different kinds of flowers that provide sweet nectar for the hummingbirds. But when the hummers return from their winter homes in April and May, there are no blooming flowers in Wisconsin that are attractive to hummingbirds. We may like to look at daffodils and crocus and tulips, but those are not hummingbird flowers. So, to maximize the number of hummingbirds in your yard throughout the season, one must have hummingbird feeders. Here is a quick primer on the feeders that have worked well in our yard and the care of the feeders.
Feeder styles: There are two basic feeder styles: bottle feeders in which the nectar is above the feeder ports or saucer style feeders.
In the bottle feeder category: a workhouse feeder that has been in existence for many years is the Perky Pet Pinch Waste Feeder
(http://www.birdfeeders.com/store/hummingbird-feeders/bhbpwf), also known as the Perky Pet 4 Fountains feeder. This feeder is widely available at retailers such as hardware stores, home improvement stores and birding stores. If you have this feeder in your yard, you are guaranteed to see hummingbirds use it. One drawback of this feeder isthat if it blows in the wind, the nectar will slosh out of the feeder ports.
A feeder that we have used extensively with much success is the First Nature Hummingbird Feeder
https://www.amazon.com/First-Nature-Hummingbird-Feeder-16-Ounce/dp/B06ZY2S16M/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1530515386&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=first+nature+hummingbird+feeders&psc=1 . These feeders have 10 feeding ports with holes that are in a horizontal position, so when the wind blows, nectar does not slosh out of these feeders. We have found that the hummingbirds use this feeder to a high degree. One disadvantage of this feeder is that the feeding port holes are large oval shapes..... large enough for yellow jackets to fly into the nectar. First Nature has recently redesigned this feeder . It remains to be seen if this new feeder is used as much as the original First Nature design. You can find this feeder at stores such as Walmart and Fleet Farm.
Another bottle style feeder is the Dr. JB's Clean Feeder (http://www.drjbs.com/). This feeder is made of very durable plastic and a hardened glass bottle. The feeder ports on this feeder are oriented such that the nectar does not slosh out in a strong wind. This feeder is widely available at retailers such as Wild Birds Unlimited and Mounds Pet Food Warehouse.
The diet of hummingbirds consists of small insects and nectar. You faithful readers of the Nectar
News are well aware of the different kinds of flowers that provide sweet nectar for the hummingbirds. But when the hummers return from their winter homes in April and May, there are no blooming flowers in Wisconsin that are attractive to hummingbirds. We may like to look at daffodils and crocus and tulips, but those are not hummingbird flowers. So, to maximize the number of hummingbirds in your yard throughout the season, one must have hummingbird feeders. Here is a quick primer on the feeders that have worked well in our yard and the care of the feeders.
Feeder styles: There are two basic feeder styles: bottle feeders in which the nectar is above the feeder ports or saucer style feeders.
In the bottle feeder category: a workhouse feeder that has been in existence for many years is the Perky Pet Pinch Waste Feeder
(http://www.birdfeeders.com/store/hummingbird-feeders/bhbpwf), also known as the Perky Pet 4 Fountains feeder. This feeder is widely available at retailers such as hardware stores, home improvement stores and birding stores. If you have this feeder in your yard, you are guaranteed to see hummingbirds use it. One drawback of this feeder isthat if it blows in the wind, the nectar will slosh out of the feeder ports.
A feeder that we have used extensively with much success is the First Nature Hummingbird Feeder
https://www.amazon.com/First-Nature-Hummingbird-Feeder-16-Ounce/dp/B06ZY2S16M/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1530515386&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=first+nature+hummingbird+feeders&psc=1 . These feeders have 10 feeding ports with holes that are in a horizontal position, so when the wind blows, nectar does not slosh out of these feeders. We have found that the hummingbirds use this feeder to a high degree. One disadvantage of this feeder is that the feeding port holes are large oval shapes..... large enough for yellow jackets to fly into the nectar. First Nature has recently redesigned this feeder . It remains to be seen if this new feeder is used as much as the original First Nature design. You can find this feeder at stores such as Walmart and Fleet Farm.
Another bottle style feeder is the Dr. JB's Clean Feeder (http://www.drjbs.com/). This feeder is made of very durable plastic and a hardened glass bottle. The feeder ports on this feeder are oriented such that the nectar does not slosh out in a strong wind. This feeder is widely available at retailers such as Wild Birds Unlimited and Mounds Pet Food Warehouse.
Another feeder to consider is the More Birds feeder https://www.walmart.com/ip/More-Birds-Ruby-Hummingbird-Feeder/24381547. This style comes highly recommended by a master bander we know.
In the saucer style category, a company that makes many of these feeders is Aspects (http://www.aspectsinc.com/2_HumFdrs.html). These feeders will not leak nectar in a strong wind. Although we have seen some use ofthese feeders in our yard, the saucer style feeders are not used as much as the Perky Pet 4 Fountains or the First Nature Hummingbird Feeders. These feeders are available at hardware stores and Wild Birds Unlimited.
There are dozens of styles of hummingbird feeders. We only mention the feeders above as these have been used in our yard and we can attest that they are good feeders. You will likely have success with almost any kind of feeder. However, we do not have any experience with the fancy
glass blown feeders that have a single spigot feeding port. In our discussions with other hummingbird enthusiasts, we have heard that hummers do not use these feeders very much and that they can be very difficult to clean. The best hummingbird feeder one that attracts hummingbirds AND is easy to clean.
Nectar
Now that you have your feeders, it is time to add nectar. Many of the pictures of feeders shown in the web sites listed above contain nectar with red dye. The dye is not necessary, as there is enough red on the feeder to attract the hummingbirds (and red dye may be harmful to the birds). So, you can either buy a commercial nectar mix, or make your own nectar. We do the latter by mixing a ratio of 4 parts water to 1 part WHITE TABLE sugar (DO NOT use other kinds of sugars or sweetening agents---these are unsafe for hummingbirds!). The water can be boiled, or hot water out of the tap. (One could also use room temperature or cold water, but
the sugar will take longer to dissolve compared to hot water.) Stir in the sugar until it is totally dissolved, and then place in your feeder. We do not fill our feeders to the top because we do not have enough hummingbirds to drain our feeders. We only place enough nectar in the feeders to
last until the next nectar change, as often as every 2-3 days during hot, humid weather or at least every 4-5 days. Changing the nectar is necessary, as otherwise, the nectar will become cloudy, sour, and moldy and could sicken and kill a hummingbird!!.
The feeders also need to be cleaned. One can purchase different mops and brushes to clean the feeders. Alternatively, a 10 to 1 mixture of water and bleach can be used to soak the feeders for approximately 10 minutes. This is very effective at eliminating any mold and we recommend doing a bleach soak at least monthly. Fill your kitchen sink with hot water and a splash of bleach and soak the feeders and then rinse well. The fresh sugar water will neutralize any remaining mild bleach water that you cannot rinse out.
Lastly, it is time to hang your feeders. We place our feeders at approximately eye level. Place the feeders where you can see them and enjoy watching nature's flying jewels in your yard. In our opinion, the more feeders that you have, the more hummingbirds will be attracted to your yard. This may not be exceedingly important if one lives in the country near ideal nesting habitat. For those of us living in the city, we think that offering a large number of feeders helps us to see hummingbirds during most days of the late spring, summer and early fall (as late as November 17 in 2010---without feeders we would have not seen these late hummingbirds as all of our flowers had died or ceased blooming due to cold weather and frost). At the height of the fall migration, we maintain over 20 feeders in our yard.
In the saucer style category, a company that makes many of these feeders is Aspects (http://www.aspectsinc.com/2_HumFdrs.html). These feeders will not leak nectar in a strong wind. Although we have seen some use ofthese feeders in our yard, the saucer style feeders are not used as much as the Perky Pet 4 Fountains or the First Nature Hummingbird Feeders. These feeders are available at hardware stores and Wild Birds Unlimited.
There are dozens of styles of hummingbird feeders. We only mention the feeders above as these have been used in our yard and we can attest that they are good feeders. You will likely have success with almost any kind of feeder. However, we do not have any experience with the fancy
glass blown feeders that have a single spigot feeding port. In our discussions with other hummingbird enthusiasts, we have heard that hummers do not use these feeders very much and that they can be very difficult to clean. The best hummingbird feeder one that attracts hummingbirds AND is easy to clean.
Nectar
Now that you have your feeders, it is time to add nectar. Many of the pictures of feeders shown in the web sites listed above contain nectar with red dye. The dye is not necessary, as there is enough red on the feeder to attract the hummingbirds (and red dye may be harmful to the birds). So, you can either buy a commercial nectar mix, or make your own nectar. We do the latter by mixing a ratio of 4 parts water to 1 part WHITE TABLE sugar (DO NOT use other kinds of sugars or sweetening agents---these are unsafe for hummingbirds!). The water can be boiled, or hot water out of the tap. (One could also use room temperature or cold water, but
the sugar will take longer to dissolve compared to hot water.) Stir in the sugar until it is totally dissolved, and then place in your feeder. We do not fill our feeders to the top because we do not have enough hummingbirds to drain our feeders. We only place enough nectar in the feeders to
last until the next nectar change, as often as every 2-3 days during hot, humid weather or at least every 4-5 days. Changing the nectar is necessary, as otherwise, the nectar will become cloudy, sour, and moldy and could sicken and kill a hummingbird!!.
The feeders also need to be cleaned. One can purchase different mops and brushes to clean the feeders. Alternatively, a 10 to 1 mixture of water and bleach can be used to soak the feeders for approximately 10 minutes. This is very effective at eliminating any mold and we recommend doing a bleach soak at least monthly. Fill your kitchen sink with hot water and a splash of bleach and soak the feeders and then rinse well. The fresh sugar water will neutralize any remaining mild bleach water that you cannot rinse out.
Lastly, it is time to hang your feeders. We place our feeders at approximately eye level. Place the feeders where you can see them and enjoy watching nature's flying jewels in your yard. In our opinion, the more feeders that you have, the more hummingbirds will be attracted to your yard. This may not be exceedingly important if one lives in the country near ideal nesting habitat. For those of us living in the city, we think that offering a large number of feeders helps us to see hummingbirds during most days of the late spring, summer and early fall (as late as November 17 in 2010---without feeders we would have not seen these late hummingbirds as all of our flowers had died or ceased blooming due to cold weather and frost). At the height of the fall migration, we maintain over 20 feeders in our yard.
HUMMINGBIRD GARDEN NEWS
Planting the right flowers that meet a hummingbird’s high need for nectar is key to a successful hummingbird garden that will delight you and bring in hummingbirds from May through October. Just like any other kind of garden, a hummingbird garden has its good and bad seasons and ups and downs. Weather in Wisconsin is always difficult to predict, and we often get off to a very slow start with cold springs and soil that never seems to warm. In 2017, the summer was cool with non-stop overcast days, which can present a challenge for any gardener. Although it was a warmer than usual winter last year, we lost all of our butterfly bushes and much of our Monarda ‘Jacob Kline’ (or it came back extremely late, it is currently in mid-August only a few inches tall, and will not bloom this season)---we think this occurred because of lack of snow cover and repeated thawing and refreezing.
We are also facing the challenge of increasing shade from trees in our yard, which is like a death knell for a hummingbird gardener. Most of the best hummingbird plants need full sun to thrive and bloom well (especially in the Upper Midwest). Our issue is that city trees (which the City of Madison refuses to trim, despite our pleas) are growing very large and trees in neighbors’ yards on both sides are also casting a lot of shade as well---sadly, you can only cut branches that are on your property and no contractor will touch trees owned by the City (we finally cut some branches ourselves, but we don’t have the equipment or expertise to really attack this task). If you are lucky enough to have full sun in your garden, please do everything you can to protect it if you want to keep gardening for hummingbirds and butterflies!!
When you have the best plants for hummingbirds blooming in late August and early September, the feeders are almost unnecessary (but don’t take them down, they ensure that your hummingbirds will always have something to eat no matter what---days with heavy rain, high heat days, and cool fall days create challenges for hummingbirds in a garden that offers only flowers!) Here is a listing of the best and no fail plants for hummingbirds in Wisconsin by season:
· Spring: Hummingbird feeders, Lonicera sempervirens (Trumpet Honeysuckle), Gartenmeister Fuchsia
· Early Summer: Siberian Nepeta (Catmint), Gartenmeister Fuchsia, Cuphea ‘Vermillionaire’ or ‘David Verity’, Salvia guaranitica, Salvia ‘Wendy’s Wish’, Salvia microphylla (many varieties available including ‘Hot Lips’, ‘Maraschino’, ‘Cherry Chief’, ‘San Carlos Festival’), Agastache (may have to grow in pots if your soil is heavy and rich)
· Summer: Monarda ‘Jacob Kline’, Siberian Catmint (Nepeta), Canna indica and Robert Kemp, Salvia coccinea, Cuphea ‘Vermillionaire’ or ‘David Verity’, Salvia guaranitica, Salvia ‘Wendy’s Wish’, Salvia microphylla (many varieties available including ‘Hot Lips’, ‘Maraschino’, ‘Cherry Chief’, ‘San Carlos Festival’), Agastache (may have to grow in pots if your soil is heavy and rich), Silene regia (Royal Catchfly), Buddleia (davidii and ‘Orange Sceptre’), Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower)---requires moist soil, Nicotiana mutabilis (easy to grow from seed available on the internet or plants from www.selecteeds.com)
· Late Summer/Early Fall: Canna indica and Robert Kemp, Salvia coccinea, Cuphea ‘Vermillionaire’ or ‘David Verity’, Salvia guaranitica, Salvia ‘Wendy’s Wish’, Salvia microphylla (many varieties available including ‘Hot Lips’, ‘Maraschino’, ‘Cherry Chief’, ‘San Carlos Festival’), Agastache (may have to grow in pots if your soil is heavy and rich), Buddleia (davidii and ‘Orange Sceptre’), Nicotiana mutabilis (easy to grow from seed available on the internet or plants from www.selecteeds.com)
There are so many other plants to choose from---this is only a starting point. To learn more about growing tropical salvias, please visit www.fbts.com ---you will be amazed at how many salvias are now available to the home gardener!! We also provide a lot of information about growing salvias and other hummingbird plants on our website hummingbirdgardening.net. You can grow just about anything in a container with high quality soil in a sunny spot (placing the pot on hot cement is even better!), so experiment and if you have a place to keep your plant warm over the winter, you might have a larger and more vigorous plant for the next season!! The key with gardening is to build a great garden slowly and try not to plant more than you can take of well---while most hummingbird plants are low care, they still need occasional watering, fertilizing and repotting, and some plants such as Butterfly Bush and Cannas require regular deadheading to stay in bloom. If you are unfortunate enough to have Japanese Beetles, you will have to hand pick them from your plants. Of course, there’s always the dreaded fall and spring garden clean up!! It’s all part of being a hummingbird gardener. The special magic and joy of gardening for hummingbirds is that you are tending a garden to bring these beautiful and special birds into your garden and help them along their way!
WHEN TO TAKE HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS DOWN
After a long and glorious season of hummingbirds and gardening, it’s very difficult and sad to think about the birds leaving and having to dismantle the garden and the hummingbird feeders. However, Wisconsin’s very chilly and snowy winter months make this a necessary evil.
It is a total myth that leaving your feeders up after October 15 will force hummingbirds to remain in your garden when it might not be safe for them to do so. If anything, your late season feeders (providing they are well maintained and clean) will help late migrating hummingbirds. Hummingbirds (and other migratory birds) migrate based on the length of day (the shorter days of fall stimulate a hormonal process that tells them it’s time to move south) and not on the presence of feeders and flowers. While it’s true that less food (nectar and insects) could play a part in their decision to depart, the shorter days and declining sunlight are more of a motivator for these tropical birds. While they can still find insects inside of evergreen trees and underneath tree bark, it’s just easier and safer to fly to a warmer place that has more food and a sunnier climate to offer. While some hummingbird species are equipped to deal with cold weather (the Rufous hummingbird, which breeds in Alaska, is extremely cold hardy), Ruby-throated hummingbirds are sadly not and cannot survive our winters.
In 2010, we had a warm, late fall. We thought all our hummingbirds had left in early October like they usually do. About a week later, we happened to look out in the garden and saw two hummingbirds at flowers! One of those hummingbirds ended up staying with us until November 17! While he fed from some tropical salvias that were still viable, the feeders we maintained were his lifeline. We hope that he was able to make it to the Gulf Coast states or even Mexico to spend the winter. So, you just never know when a hummingbird feeder might save a bird’s life!
Another great reason to leave feeders up and flowers intact as much as possible is that you may be lucky enough to attract a vagrant hummingbird from the western US (most commonly a Rufous or an Anna’s.) Every fall a few lucky hummingbird enthusiasts will have the privilege of hosting one of these special birds in their garden. While we’ve been waiting 20 years (Rufous hummingbirds have been banded in two locations near our home---one location as close as a mile!), you never know until you try. We have visited Wisconsin properties in December with snow on the ground with a Rufous hummingbird still present and feeding regularly from a feeder.
We typically take down all our feeders by early December, but some people in the Upper Midwest maintain one hummingbird feeder year-round. This is a decision that you must make for yourself---you should only maintain a feeder if you know you will have the time and motivation to keep it clean and filled and safe for hummingbirds to use.
Please contact us if you have any questions about when to take your hummingbird feeders down or if you see a very late hummingbird in your garden.
UPCOMING EVENTS
-Michael & Kathi Rock Hummingbird Garden Tours: September 12, 3-7 p.m., September 16, 1-5:30 p.m., 5118 Buffalo Trail, Madison, WI 53705, kathijr@yahoo.com
-This link contains an extensive listing of other Hummingbird Festivals in 2018 throughout the United States: https://www.hummingbirdcentral.com/hummingbird-festivals-events.htm
INTERESTING HUMMINGBIRD LINKS:
- The Amazing Metabolism of Hummingbirds: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/science/hummingbirds-fructose-metabolism.html
- Hummingbird Incredibly Changes Color Every Second: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp7AqQq5o00
ONLINE RESOURCES
- Michael & Kathi Rock website, Gardening for Hummingbirds in the Upper Midwest: hummingbirdgardening.net
- Lanny Chambers Migration Map & Other Helpful Information: www.hummingbirds.net
- Don Mitchell Hummingbird Gardening in Minnesota: https://hummingbirdgardener.com/
- General Website About Hummingbirds: https://www.hummingbirdcentral.com/index.htm
- Great Lakes HummerNet (Allen Chartier, bander in Michigan): http://www.amazilia.net/MIHummerNet/index.htm
- The Hummingbird Forum: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/featheredfriends/the-hummingbird-forum-f439743/
- Journey North: https://journeynorth.org/hummingbirds
-Operation Ruby Throat: http://rubythroat.org/default2.html
-Hummingbird Society: www.hummingbirdsociety.org
-Hummingbird Research (incorporates the work and philosophy of the late Bob Sargent and the now defunct Hummer/Bird Study Group): http://www.hummingbirdresearch.net/
-Flowers By The Sea Plant Nursery (contains so much information about tropical salvias and other hummingbird plants---look for an article about us on their site!) : www.fbts.com
-Facebook has many groups devoted to hummingbirds including (but certainly not limited to) The Hummingbird Whisperer and Hummingbirds Anonymous. Additionally, there is a “Wisconsin Hummingbirds” Group, which is very active and we hope our new Facebook page (coming this winter!) will be complimentary to this wonderful page.
Michael & Kathi Rock
5118 Buffalo Trail
Madison, WI 53705
608-233-7397
e-mail: kathijr@yahoo.com
website: hummingbirdgardening.net
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